Iran dispatches naval flotilla to Russia

The Iranian Navy sent a flotilla of warships to the Russian port city of Astrakhan on Wednesday, FARS news agency reported.

"Two missile-launching warships which have been manufactured by the young Iranian experts and joined the Navy's fleet in 2003 and 2006 were for the first time dispatched to the Russian port of Astrakhan in the form of a flotilla," Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy Admiral Siyavash Jarreh announced on Wednesday.

He further mentioned "consolidation of the friendly relations between Iran and Russia" as the goal of the mission, adding that the Navy also aims to display the might and increased knowledge and experience of its young personnel.

According to the Admiral, the Iranian naval forces are due to visit the port and military centers of Astrakhan, and also take part in meetings with senior military officials and commanders in Russia.

A detachment of the Russian Pacific Fleet warships docked in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas in mid April.

The Russian fleet, comprised of Admiral Panteleyev anti-submarine destroyer and two logistic warships of Peresvet and Admiral Novelskoy with a total number of 712 crews, entered the Army's first naval zone in Bandar Abbas on April 21.

The Iranian army said that the visit was aimed at the consolidation of the relations between Iran and Russia and expansion of military interactions between the two countries in the field of naval security.

The Voice of Russia had earlier reported that the Russian warships have left Vladivostok to do combat duty in the world oceans, and that they would have a short stop in Bandar Abbas en route to their mission zone.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced then that it has begun forming a separate Mediterranean squadron.